Comparison of Thyroid Gland Sonography Index with Serum Antithyroid Peroxidase, Antithyroglobulin, and Thyroid Function Tests in Patients with Hashimoto Thyroiditis.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional observational study without a control group.
PubMed 39224552 · doi:10.31661/gmj.v13i.3309
What was done
A cross-sectional study evaluated 149 patients (118 females, 31 males; age range 18-60 years, mean age 38.60 ± 8.03 years) diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Serum concentrations of free T3 (FT3), free T4 (FT4), TSH, anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO), and anti-thyroglobulin (anti-Tg) were measured. Real-time thyroid ultrasound assessed echogenicity, size, and parenchymal pattern (classified into five grades), and correlations between sonographic parameters and serological markers were analyzed.
What was found
Nodular structures were found in 54 patients (36.2%), including 38 micro-nodular and 16 macro-nodular cases. Thyroid parenchymal echogenicity was hypoechoic in 119 patients (79.87%) and isoechoic in 15 (10.07%). Euthyroid patients had a significantly thicker isthmus than those with overt or subclinical hypothyroidism (P=0.018). Mean serum TSH, anti-Tg, and anti-TPO titers were significantly higher in patients with macro-nodules compared to those with micro-nodules or no nodules (reported as P0.05). Isthmus thickness was negatively correlated with FT4 (P=0.046; r=0.11 reported) and FT3 (P=0.017; r=0.15 reported). Thyroid autoantibodies also had positive correlations with thyroid volume parameters.
Why it matters
This study provides correlation data suggesting that specific thyroid ultrasound features track with serological antibody titers and thyroid function in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
Limits
The study is an uncontrolled cross-sectional analysis with a modest sample size (n=149). The abstract contains typographical ambiguities in its reporting of statistical results (e.g., missing relational operators for p-values and mismatched signs for negative correlation coefficients). Inter-observer variability for ultrasound grading was not reported.
Cited by
- supports Hashimoto's thyroiditis causes the thyroid gland to appear jagged and smaller on ultrasound imaging.